Trevor Bauer's second season pitching in Mexico with the Diablos Rojos del Mexico ended short of the team's goal of winning a third consecutive Liga Mexicana de Beisbol title, but the former National League Cy Young Award winner will play more baseball in 2026.

Baseball's most online pitcher has signed with the Estrellas Orientales of LIDOM, the Dominican Republic's professional winter league, according to a report from ESPN's Enrique Rojas. The 2026-27 season would be Bauer's first pitching in winter baseball, and he has previously said he'd like to win a Caribbean Series title.

The much maligned righty returned to the Diablos Rojos del Mexico in June after starting the season with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. Bauer had a 2.36 ERA, 66 strikeouts and seven walks in 42 innings across seven starts for the Ducks. He tossed a seven-inning no-hitter on April 26 at Lancaster and set a franchise record, striking out 15 on May 12 outing vs. Gastonia. Bauer was named the Atlantic League’s April/May Pitcher of the Month.

With the Diablos, Bauer threw 32 2/3 innings across five starts and one relief appearance, posting a 4.41 ERA with 31 strikeouts and just six walks.

Bauer won the LMB’s Pitcher of the Year Award in 2024, going 10-0 with an ERA of 2.48 in 83 1/3 innings pitched and leading the league in strikeouts with 120. He also tied for the league lead in wins with 10, was second in ERA, second in WHIP at 1.04, and second in batting average against, with opposing batters hitting .216 against him.

The Naranjeros de Hermosillo of the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico selected Bauer with the first selection in the 2024 Liga Mexicana del Pacifico import draft, but Bauer ultimately decided not to play winter ball in the 2024-25 season.

While pitching in Major League Baseball, Bauer received a MLB record 324-game suspension in 2021 for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy. The 324-game suspension was cut down by 130 games by Martin Scheinman, an independent arbitrator in the MLB Players Association. Bauer served 144 games of the suspension in 2022, and only had 50 games remaining going into the 2023 MLB season.

Bauer has never been arrested, charged, or convicted of a crime related to the allegations, and though one of his accusers has been charged with defrauding the former Major Leaguer, Bauer has not returned to MLB.

In addition to pitching for the Diablos Rojos del Mexico in 2024, Bauer has also pitched for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in Japan in 2023 and 2025.

The Estrellas Orientales, based in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, have won three championships in their 116-year history, but have yet to win a Caribbean Series.